A Piece of Advice
by ForeverAReaderAWriter
Summary: A new guidance Counsellor at DuPont, who starts her job with a guest lecture, inspires Adrien And Marinette to finally look past the pedestals they've placed their crushes on. (3 Short Chapters) [Discontinued]


**A/N : To anyone who's read** ** _Stronger,_** **Enjoy! Also if you're not a fan, the last two chapters just focus on the big 2. I made this because freaking pedestals.**

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" I wonder what this new guidance counselor will be like," Marinette said to Alya as their class filed into the auditorium.

Apparently the woman, whose name was going to remain a mystery until she stepped on stage to introduce herself, was semi famous.

She was going to be replacing their old guidance counselor who was taking a job at the trauma center.

She had been that amazing according to other students like Mylène, so this new woman had some pretty big shoes to fill.

Alya and Marinette managed to sit together with Nino on the blogger's other side next to Adrien.

The room was alive with chatter until cleared his throat.

He began with a standard introduction and stepped away from the podium as a woman stepped out.

The crowd gasped.

The woman had to be around the age of Marinette's mom and yet she was incredibly beautiful and young looking. She had chocolate brown hair that was twisted into a bun, warm brown eyes and caramel colored skin.

But her beauty was not surprising, it was her _identity_ , though no one was sure yet.

"It is a pleasure to meet you all, my name is Paloma Garcia and I will be your new guidance counselor," she mused.

Marinette's eyes widened and Alya grinned.

So it was her.

Paloma Garcia, the daughter of a business tycoon, and while as the eldest she had been groomed to take over the company, she had chosen to pursue her own path.

The reason she was really famous though was while at a gala she had noticed a chandelier fall and had rushed to move the people underneath it away, injuring herself in the process.

She was a selfless hero. She was strong, independent, confident and kind.

Marinette looked up to her in a different way than Gabriel, Paloma was Marinette's female role model.

Marinette straightened as Paloma opened her mouth to speak.

"Now I understand many of you will not come and see me no matter what happens or you may even think you have no need to see me, which is fine but understand everyone needs guidance so my next few words are from one of my past lectures. I thank you for keeping an open mind and listening," the older woman said.

Marinette hummed, she supposed she was one of those people who didn't need guidance. Her life was pretty happy, amazing friends, loving family, and she couldn't talk to the guidance counselor about being Ladybug that's for sure.

"This lecture is accurately titled Perfection and Deception, you are at a critical stage of development trying to find a place in this world, discover who you are and navigate changes that will happen in your life. This is all apart of growth. I've been there, oh trust me I remember. And even though not all of you grew up as a child prodigy, you all feel it. A pressure to present your best self to others," Paloma continued, hands moving elegantly as she spoke.

Marinette felt a pang.

Somehow... she could relate to this.

As Ladybug everybody felt like she was perfect, even her own best friend who didn't think it was possible for clumsy Marinette to be Ladybug.

She had to be perfect because she couldn't lose. It didn't mean she liked the expectation, her mind flashing to the Lila incident.

She was still Marinette.

"I'm here to tell you that nobody should be put on a pedestal. Believe me, I've been there for many different reasons. I'm just a human, a woman with flaws and quirks too. I'm sure all of you were interested to see that it's Paloma the daughter of a billionaire, hero who selflessly saved those people. But what you don't think is: Oh hey it's Paloma who tripped at a beauty pageant as a teenager and then went out to have pizza with her friends. Paloma who sings horribly but plays a beautiful guitar solo. Paloma who volunteers at the shelter but got jealous of her now husband's coworker and poured water all over her," The woman said with a smirk.

The crowd gasped. It was getting personal now. And everything she said had been... surprising. As if to prove a point, Paloma pulled out a remote and clicked a button powering on the projecter which showed two images on one slide. An image of Paloma falling in the pageant, her face a mask of horror and one at a pizzeria looking happy, sauce on her dress even, surrounded by laughing friends.

Paloma clicked a button showing her winning another pageant and receiving the crown.

She frowned.

"I hate being this, it was forced upon me by father basically," she clicked back to the first slide, "because I'm only human and when I suddenly fall. It makes me feel less than what I deserve. I want people to see the me on the right. That's Paloma. Not my mistakes when I'm not who they expect me to be."

All eyes were on the woman who made perfect sense.

"If you have someone on a pedestal, for example, the heroes of the city. Remember that while they are amazing and brave, they're just people. Understand if they make mistakes, embrace their flaws, that is the best thanks and appreciation one could ask for," Paloma said with a smile.

Marinette felt a warm feeling spread in her. Maybe she would go see the counselor, she'd just need an excuse.

"Now that is the theme of Perfection but moving onto Deception. In order to pretend to be perfect I had to deceive others into thinking I was perfect. I never lied - though others could - about who I was but maybe I acted differently than I would have. A mask per say. This is the theme of deception. My challenge to you is look past what someone normally projects and to take people you've placed on a pedestal down onto your level," she ended.

The crowd murmured pleased by the new choice in guidance counselor.

"Now that concludes the lecture and introduction, remember you can see me and talk about anything, classes, future career aspirations, relationship advice, family problems, anxiety or just come and we can get to know each other in case you ever need me..."

Marinette bit her lips as the class got up and left.

She thought about Ladybug and she thought about Adrien.

Ladybug was forced to be perfect, even Chat thought she was perfect, one of the reasons she refused to give him a chance.

But she'd done the exact same thing to Adrien.

Maybe it was about time she really got to know him. There were lots of kind people in the world after all.

What did he like? What didn't he like? Was most of his hobbies forced upon him by his father?

Maybe they were completely incompatible.

Marinette suddenly thought about Chat, she knew they were compatible but if only he could like who she really was...

Her eyes widened. Woah. Since when did she want to give Chat a chance.

Marinette decided to test the water with both boys. She'd get to know Adrien and try to see if Chat could love the real her.


End file.
